Easyfoodsmith : January 2012

Friday, January 27, 2012

WINTER CITRUS FRUIT PUNCH

Usually during summers, to replenish the loss of water and to keep myself hydrated I have sweet lime juice or lemonade. During winters it is the Kinnow juice that I guzzle to sustain my much needed Vitamin C level since I am prone to colds and Kinnow happens to be extremely rich in Vitamin C. Kinnow, a citrus fruit primarily grown in India and Pakistan, arrives in abundance during January and February.

January is also the time to gorge on strawberries that arrive from Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar near Bombay. Since I was a kid I have enjoyed eating fruits. I was never fond of eating meals comprising of lentils, vegetables, flatbreads or rice. I enjoyed milk and milk products and eating fruits; used to gorge on them whole day. It was much later, when I went out for my higher studies that I started eating a balanced diet. Actually I really had no choice. The university was on the outskirts of the city and the only food available was the one at the canteen so I knew that there was no way out except eating a proper meal. It was also during this time that I started enjoying home cooked meals. I used to look forward to going home and having food cooked lovingly by Mom.

This time around I thought of clubbing the goodness of fruits with my glass of Kinnow juice. I added half a cup of black grapes and threw in 6-7 strawberries and whisked everything in a blender. Added a dash of lemon juice and some black salt and enjoyed my glass of healthy fruit punch.

For making the fruit punch I used,

Juice of 1 Kinnow (they are very juicy and 1 is sufficient)

6-7 strawberries

½ cup black grapes

Dash of lemon

Dash of soda/ sparkling water (just to perk up the fruit punch)

A pinch of black salt (optional)

2-3 cubes of ice, crushed

In a blender put everything together and blitz. Pour in to glass and serve!

Makes 1 large glass

Note: You can make the fruit punch with any type of citrus fruits that you wish to. Suggestions, kiwi fruit, blueberries, raspberries, etc

Monday, January 23, 2012

PETITE EGGLESS COCONUT MACAROONS

In case you have been wondering why I have been missing in action since my last post, here is the ‘why’. My daughter has been having her exams so I was busy helping her with her studies. Besides that, I have been busy trying to make my macaroons work. After four failed attempts I finally managed to make nearly perfect (I guess they are nearly thereJ) eggless macaroons.

If you remember, I had mentioned in one of my previous post about my macaroon fiasco. They had gone all mushy and burnt. Since then, I have been trying to work on them off and on. My daughter had given up on me and told me to stop dreaming about them day and night. I have this tendency that if something doesn’t work out for me in the kitchen, I stubbornly pursue it till I am able to achieve the desired results. So, now I know four ways how not to make/bake a macaroon!! ;-)

Here is how I made these macaroons.

100 grams condensed milk (sweetened)

1 heaped cup shredded coconut (I used fresh one)

1 tbsp scant, refined flour

2 tsp scant, semolina (I used it coz I ran out of refined flour but it worked perfectly well)

Line the base of a baking tray with parchment paper and grease it well.

Mix all the ingredients together to make a thick batter.

Pre-heat the oven at 170 degree C.

Drop a spoonful of batter on the baking tray 1 inch apart.

Bake for 10-15 minutes keeping an eye on the macaroons.

Remove them from the oven once they start becoming golden brown at the edges and top.

Note: In case you feel that batter is thick, add 1-2 tsp of milk. Or in case it looks runny, add a little bit of refined flour to it.

Note: I baked the macaroons on the top most rack of the oven using only the lower coil for heating and once they were done, I shifted the baking tray to second bottom shelf and used the upper coil to give a little goldenish touch to the macaroon tops.

Note: I did not use sugar since my family prefers mild sweetness. You can use 2-3 tsp of sugar if you like the macaroons sweeter.

Note: Keep a regular eye on the macaroons. It doesn’t take them much time to get burnt! You know your oven best, so adjust the time and temperature accordingly.

Suggestion: Some people do not like the aroma/taste of condensed milk, for those you can use a few drops of vanilla essence or perhaps green cardamom powder.
Suggestion: Bake a single macaroon and if it comes out well, go ahead with the rest of the batch (updated on 25th Jan 12')

Suggestion: Serve them drizzled with nutella for extra yumminess!!!!!

Yield - 16 little macaroons

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

BANANA BREAD WITH STRAWBERRY COMPOTE

This is the first time that I have ever made bread, never mind if it’s banana bread and not the one with yeast (the tricky ones). The yeast ones will have to wait for now coz as of now I am happily contented with the result of this banana bread. It turned out soft and deliciously flavourful. Thanks to such successes, I fall in love with baking all over again ;-) Another reason why I love baking are the aromas that fill the house…warm and comforting. Heavenly!

I had been avoiding baking this bread because of the cinnamon and nutmeg in it. No, no no…I love cinnamon in anything – desserts, snacks, cake, ice-cream…you name it! Unfortunately, not my husband and daughter; they passionately hate it!!! Can you believe that! Someone hating cinnamon is unthinkable to me? Anyways, to each his own… But I this time around I couldn’t resist the temptation. Hubby is travelling, so it was golden opportunity and I grabbed it with both handsJ I am so glad I made this bread!

Since baking it and between writing this post, I have polished off four slices already with the compoteJ and I am still trying hard to hold myself back…ha ha. The compote was like cherry on the cake. Although the bread is more of a snack but the addition of compote transforms this simple humble bread in to a very gratifying dessert.

Here’s what goes into it,

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup caster sugar

125 g butter

3 eggs

3 large ripe bananas

2 cups self-raising flour, scant (I used I cup plain flour & 1 cup wheat flour and added 1¼ tsp baking powder)

½ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla essence)

For the Compote

½ cup brown sugar

Juice of 2 oranges

Grated rind of 1 orange (I chopped it roughly and the taste and texture was great)

1 cinnamon stick

2 ½ cup strawberries, thickly sliced

To serve

Mascarpone or plain yoghurt

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius or 350 degree Fahrenheit. Line the bottom of a 9 X 4 ¼ inch loaf pan with parchment paper.

Beat the sugars and butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg, one at a time and mix in vanilla extract.

Coarsely mash the bananas and add to the butter mixture. Gently mix it in.

Add flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and stir them till just combined

Pour the mixture in the pan prepared pan and bake till 1 hour to 1¼ hour. (Mine took just over an hour)

Bake until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes and then remove from the pan.

For compote:

In a pan, add all the ingredients except the strawberries and cook on a medium heat and bring to a boil.

Add the strawberries and return to boil.

Remove from the heat and pour in a clean bowl.

To Serve

Slice the banana bread and spoon over the compote and serve with mascarpone or plain yoghurt. Dust with sifted confectioner’s sugar

Adapted from 'Party' Cookbook.

Post linked to Banana Recipes event hosted by Dr Sameena Prathap
Banana recipes Event

Post linked to Midweek Fiesta - 12 hosted by Amy of Foods Sri Lanka

Post linked to Katherine's Blog Hop on Strawberries

Friday, January 13, 2012

some awards and DALIYA SAFED CHANA KI SALAD - RUBY SPOTTED BROKEN WHEAT CHICK PEA SALAD

A cousin, who is in the family way, was visiting me a few weeks back. Having lost her appetite for curries and anything rich or spicy, she asked me if I could prepare something light and simple for her. Keeping in mind her need for a nutritious and balanced diet I raked up my brain and came up with an idea to try this salad.

I have often seen bulgar wheat salads as an accompaniment to Lebanese dishes. However, bulgar is not easily available here (available at speciality stores and none is even remotely close to where I stay). Instead I zeroed in on broken wheat as a substitute. I added chick peas (safed chana) to it since I found the taste of the wheat somewhat bland despite the addition of herbs. Although I do not like eating pomegranate, (love its juice though), on insistence of my cousin I added pomegranate to it. I was delighted to note that its addition gave texture and slight tart sweet flavour to the salad which everyone loved at home.

The salad is ideal for a mid day meal. It is actually a well balanced meal in itself with a healthy dose of carbohydrates and protein (broken wheat/chick peas), herbs (mint & cilantro) and the goodness of veggies (cucumber & carrots) and fruit (pom). Instead of cooking the broken wheat, I soaked it in boiling water for half an hour and then squeezed excess water from it. Being colourful, the salad instantly drew my daughter’s attention and she excitedly tried it without any prompting. She enjoyed it to the core which came as a pleasant surprise to me!! J

Feel free to adjust the amount of ingredients to suit your taste. My family enjoyed the ratio mentioned below.

½ cup broken wheat (coarse in texture)

½ cup chick peas (canned or freshly boiled, drained)

1 tbsp heaped pomegranate seeds

½ tbsp mint leaves, torn

1 tsp fresh cilantro or coriander, finely chopped (parsley can also be added)

1 tbsp cucumber, diced in small pieces

1 tbsp carrot, shredded

1 pinch black pepper, coarsely ground

1 pinch red chilli powder

2 pinch chaat masala (optional) [available at Indian grocery stores]

2 tsp lemon juice (+/- as per your taste)

Salt to taste

Transfer ½ cup broken wheat in a bowl and add 350 ml boiling water over it.

Let it soak for 30-35 minutes

Drain and squeeze out excess water from broken wheat

Transfer to a mixing bowl and add rest of the ingredients except pomegranate

Mix them well and sprinkle with pomegranate before serving.

Note: The addition of chaat masala peps up the taste of the salad and I would highly recommend it.

Serves 2-3

Now, to the awards. When I had started blogging I had never imagined that I will have a wonderful blogging community to support and encourage me so much. The awards that I received from a few of them shows their generosity and support. These are the few awards that I received and I would like to share them with the following bloggers

The Versatile Blogger award